Lamarcus was asked if returning to Portland as a Spur is going to be weird or uncomfortable... his response was that the only thing weird was going to be staying at a hotel..... why do I feel like the fans are completely disrespected by that statement? Lamarcus is a narcissistic birch.
Because the hotels are so VASTLY different from city to city.... I wonder if he's going to fly here by himself... he's done it before.
For some reason he hated this city. That's why Dame is so refreshing you can tell night and day the difference how they embrace the city..
I am over Aldridge, and I would venture most people are. If not, should be over him after tonight. He's the second best statistical player in Blazers history, and the only thing that got us was one series victory, ironically sealed by his successor. Over the course of 9 seasons he never cared about the city, kept to himself, and never embraced his role as leader. Every fluff piece written about Aldridge's leadership skills were how he was a "silent" leader that led by example. Bullshit, he just never wanted the responsibility. He didn't owe us anything when he left, fair enough, but we don't owe him anything in return. Boo, cheer, be silent, do what ever you want. My gut is telling me he's not in for the warmest reception.
People booed Turkoglu for years after he snubbed Portland. That rejection pales in comparison to Aldridge's Decision. If I were Aldridge I wouldn't eat in any Portland restaurants. Ever.
Myself, I'm bitter as hell this year about him, and I want him to fail disastrously. He's pretty much in that same tier of Kobe/Shaq in their prime in terms of unrequited resentment. That said, just like Shaq/Kobe, I respect the player's game and know he doesn't really give a shit what Blazer fans say or do. When he gets fitted for his eventual championship ring, he won't spend one second of thought about how angry we are any more than Clyde cared about how obnoxious it is that he ignores his legacy as a Blazer. Part of the fun of being a fan is hating a guy's guts and knowing it doesn't really matter. You pay $300 for a ticket so you have the right to boo your heart out. It's all part of the game.
My boss just brought up a great point that I don't think anyone has mentioned as a possibility here. Did Lamarcus completely play us and the Blazers by saying he wanted to be the best ever? Most think so, but why would he say that???? So we wouldn't trade him. Odds are if he didn't show those signs and make statements saying he wanted to resign here, we would have traded him to get something for him, but since he said those things, Blazers bought in. But he never had no intention of signing... he just didn't want to be traded. He wanted free agency to get back to Texas. Good Chance LMARSHA has been playing us for the last two years. I hope he gets payback tonight. Meyers in his face for 27 pts 11 reb 4 assists and TWO MONSTER BLOCKS ON LAMARSHMELLOW!!!!!
Exactly O. B. LaMarCooch told Olshey he wanted to wait to sign, so he wouldn't be traded and could choose his (Texas) destination. He told the fans he wanted to retire the best Blazer ever so we'd continue to support him and to avoid drama and questions. We got played. I hope he has a miserable rest of his career.
Who flew? Aldridge flew! Who knew? Hughes knew! (1 "Like" for the first person who gets the movie reference)
No worries--not everyone can be fully-versed in Timothy Dalton fare from the mid-80's. yes, that was a hint.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. If Neil Olshey took those comments at face value then he's a fucking buffoon and should be fired for incompetence. A GM's job is to make the hard-eyed calculations about his team that it needs to be successful, if he let emotions cloud his judgment instead of looking at the fairly obvious writing on the wall then we should fear for the future of this franchise. Fortunately for us, I don't think he's a buffoon. I think he knew the odds of LaMarcus returning were heavily tied to the success this team enjoyed in the playoffs last year and once Wesley went down, a team that was almost exclusively built around its starting five completely unraveled down the stretch - he gambled on health and he lost. At the very least he showed he knew LA was gone when he quickly reset the board around draft time with the trade of Batum and no firm offers for any of the other supporting cast (Lopez, Matthews, etc.)
